Muck

Back blipping. Long day yesterday visiting, Muck, one of the Small Isles. We drove to Arisaig, almost a couple of hours, took the Sheerwater to Eigg (an hour) where we left B&S for their first visit. We'd walked on Eigg before so went on the extra half hour to Muck, new to us. We walked across the island, maybe a mile across, to Gallanach. This is just part of the long beach there, looking towards the Isles of Rum (on the left) and Eigg. Four children, none more than about 6 years, ran down from a nearby house to play unattended on the beach. Wonderful to have such confidence in their safety.

The island is about 2 miles long and currently home to 38. There is a new lodge, a B&B and various other self catering options, plus a lovely little restaurant with a very warm welcome. It must take a strong mind set to live on such a small island with so few facilities. Sadly not for me, though I always love being on an island, especially when you can see other islands all around.

On the way home we stopped at Glencoe for a meal, another dining near-disaster. In spite of very few tables being occupied, it took 20 minutes to get drinks (and then the order was wrong) and 55 minutes before we got food. One of the main ingredients of our meal was missing with no explanation or apology. We were told when we asked that the chef had 'run out'. Several times the manageress told us the chef was having a bad day. In the end, she deducted the cost of the drinks from our bill, but we left without dessert - when we asked, she said it would take 25 minutes to serve us icecream. Sadly another place we won't return to. This morning looked on trip adviser to see other people have been having equally bad experiences.